New Images
by KimDavenport
Summary: Toph can see in her own way. She can see where things are and how they move. She can predict how people will act, and she never forgets a voice. But she still cannot see. A part of her wonders what looks accompany her friends' personalities. One night, Toph seeks answers from a close friend about what the team looks like, and in the process unlocks new meaning in herself. One-shot.
1. Chapter 1

The moon was full, positively bursting with white light. Its roundness stood out amongst the tar black of the sky like a feather on a platypus bear.

The city was asleep. The shops had closed, the craftsmen had gone to bed, and the housewives had long since said a final good night to their children. No one was awake except for some conspicuous Di Lee agents roaming the streets, and one, very little, very fragile-looking earthbender.

Toph crept through the house, her bare feet making hardly any noise on the bamboo floors and woven mats. She moved slowly, fearing that she might crash into something if she walked to quick. She could still feel vibrations and sense nearness on wood, but she was not as confident on this building material as she was with her own, familiar earth. She did not want to risk making a noise and awaking the whole house. Sokka, she felt, could sleep through anything, but she did not know how light of a sleeper Aang was. If he slept as lightly as his stepped, however, then little Twinkle Toes would have been up like a shot at the slightest peep, and she could not have that.

She ran her left hand along the wall as she moved through the living room, counting the door handles. One, two, those were the double doors that led to Sokka's room, filled with warrior pamphlets and plans, no doubt. One, that was the humbler bedroom that currently housed Aang, the simple monk, and his pet lemur. Finally, her hand brushed a forth brass handle. The swinging door which led to Katara's rather handsome room. The only thing about it Toph knew for sure was its size, but she could guess the rest of the details. She imagined a flowery quilt would don the bed, which she knew stood in the very center. Soft curtains would hang from the windows, mint green of course, for the earth kingdom. A slight breeze coming from her right told her that Katara left her windows open at night, allowing the pleasant Ba Sing Se air to sweep through her chamber, bringing with it the bright blue of the moon, which would of course reflect Katara's water tribe heritage perfectly.

Toph made her way to the left side of Katara's bed, passing a desk pushed up against the wall, which she was certain would be covered in girly Katara things, such as makeup and hair brushes. To be fair to Katara, however, there were probably a few books there as well, maybe even a journal for Katara to recount the fantastic tales of their travels in. Toph would like to hear such a book be read.

She knelt down on the side of Katara's bed, sensing the water bender's steady breath beneath the sheets. It was now that Toph felt a sense of foreboding, that perhaps she should turn back, return to her own room and sleep away this nagging voice in her head. But, she did not.

Instead, she reached a hand out and shook her friend awake.

Katara awoke with a start, as Toph knew she would, but she did not scream. Toph could sense her take a deep breath, as though steadying herself, then ask, in a gentle voice.

"Are you okay Toph?"

Toph could sense the worried look on her friend's face, perhaps searching Toph right now for any telltale signs of hurt.

"I'm fine, I just-I just wanted to talk to you."

The bed shifted, as though Katara was moving up to a more comfortable talking position before answering.

"What do you want to talk about?"

This was the question Toph knew for certain would be coming. She also knew it would be hard to explain exactly what she wanted to talk about. But she gave it a shot.

"I want to talk about the team. About Sokka, and Aang, and you."

"About our plan to defeat the fire lord?"

"No no, nothing like that." Why did Katara have to jump to such an extreme? Now Toph felt that her request would sound foolish. But Toph Beifong was not the type to step away from a problem simply for the fact that she might make a fool of herself. "I wanted to know…what you all look like."

There was a pause before Katara replied. Toph could hear confusion in her next words. "What we look like?" Katara questioned.

"Yeah, you know, I'm blind. I can feel where everything is, where people are moving, and hear what they say and how they mean it by their tone. But I can't _see_ them. At least not the way most people see. I know it's more important to know personality and character over looks, but still, it'd be nice to know what you all looked like. What color hair do you have? Or eyes? How much does Aang really look like a fighter? Stuff like that."

"Oh, I see." There was realization in Katara's voice. She understood. "Come sit next to me, and I will tell you everything you want to know."

Toph felt Katara's hand brush her shoulder, and she took it. Katara helped her find her way to the head of the bed, and settled her under the covers. Toph felt comforted being this close to Katara, who she really did look up to, although she would not have readily admitted it.

"So, who would you like to start with?"

Toph thought for a second. "Aang," she said at last. "I've been curious about him ever since he beat me in _my_ ring. What do air nomads really look like?"

Katara thought for a second, contemplating the look of the little boy she had pulled from the ice.

"Well, Aang is only twelve years old, so he's still a little short. Shorter then me, anyway. He has a kind face with blue eyes, like the sea. He also has air nomad tattoos all over his body, which run in lines down his arms and legs and up his back, and end in arrows at his hands, feet, and head. Oh, and he's bald."

"Bald?" Toph was surprised to hear this. She had never seen hair, of course, but she hand felt it. She knew her father and mother had hair, and that she herself had it. She had assumed everyone except for really old people had hair. A mental picture of her earthbending student was forming in her head, and she laughed to herself at the oddness of his bald head. "That's great. Tell me about Sokka next."

"Well, Sokka is taller and broader then Aang. He has blue eyes and the typical hairstyle of the water tribe, which is basically a Mohawk with a ponytail at the end."

This time, Toph laughed out loud. This description was so perfectly Sokka that it was necessary. She had always imagined Sokka to have a tough-man look to go with his war plans and sarcasm.

"Is he as muscly as his warrior talk always is?"

Katara seemed taken aback by this. At any rate, her next words were muddled with confusion. "What on earth do you mean?"

"You know," Toph struggled to describe the mental images of Sokka she had concocted in her mind. "He's always talking about strategy and plans, and he seems like a pretty good swordsman. Does he have the look of a warrior?"

Katara was hesitant with her answer. "I guess….he is pretty strong, although I guess I don't usually think about that. But he used to pick me up and carry me around all the time. I suppose he still could if he tried."

Toph nodded to herself. She could see Sokka as a strong fighter. She was grateful to him, even though she teased him any chance she got. His humor and shocking sense of reality made him the person most like her on the team. They were natural opponents to Aang's otherworldly mindset and Katara's constant emotional outbursts. Toph loved the two, but she felt Sokka put her more at ease. She felt something towards him she didn't really feel for the others. She was happy he was so good at making her feel at home in the group, crude sense of humor and all.

Toph shook herself out of her daydreaming and realized it was time to make another request.

"What do you look like?"

Although many people are hesitant to describe themselves to others, especially those that could not make three own assessments, Katara gave it her best shot.

"Well, I have long brown hair-about the color of the rock you bend-that I usually wear bits up around my head in "hair loopies," as Sokka likes to call them. I have blue eyes, like Aang, I'm about medium height, and well, that's all there really is to tell." Katara seemed unsure with her answer. Toph was ready to take her descriptions to another level.

"I'm sure you're beautiful." Toph meant it; she'd heard how the guys they passed in the streets commented amongst themselves on Katara's beauty. And she knew from hints dropped by the other team members that Katara had met at least two guys on their travels that were crazy for her, one strange fellow named Jet and another named Haru.

Katara laughed nervously at Toph's comment. "Thanks Toph."

The two sat in silence for a minute.

This was the moment. Toph had to make one more request. But she did not know how Katara would take it.

"Katara? What-what do I look like?" She'd always wanted to know. She had imagined how her hair and face would look in many different ways, ranging from unequaled beauty in her girly fantasies to dirty manliness in her more realistic imaginations. She'd been too nervous to ask her mother, and they'd never really been that close anyway. But she felt close enough to Katara to at least ask. She hoped Katara would be willing to answer.

And of course, she was.

"Well, Toph, you are really gorgeous. I know you see yourself as a tough fighter, and that is who you are. But you look like a beautiful young woman, like how your parents saw you, but more then that. You have beautiful silky black hair-like coal-that I envy you for. It would probably be the prettiest in Ba Sing Sea if you ever cared enough to thoroughly brush it. You have light green eyes-the same color as the earth kingdom insignia-and a completely smooth, light face. If I didn't know anything about you, I'd say you were an earth kingdom noble lady."

Toph didn't trust herself to speak much after hearing that. That Katara actually thought she was beautiful was a huge compliment. Toph generally tried not to care what people thought about her, looks or otherwise. But every once in awhile, a few insecurities would slip in. She trusted Katara, however, and her words were more then enough to put any of Toph's petty worries to rest. Blinking quickly, she moved to get out the bed.

"Thank-you, Katara, for telling me all this. It's nice to know a bit more about the people I'm fighting with."

"I'm glad I could help."

Toph made her way quickly out of Katara's room, closing the door behind her.

She walked past Aang the Baldy's room, past the muscly water soldier Sokka's room, and back to her own chamber.

She tucked herself into bed, feeling her hair-which she now knew matched the coal used to fuel tanks and boats-slid down her back with a smoothness she had not previously recognized.

By the next morning, the insecure little Toph that had shown herself to Katara in the night was gone, and Toph Beifong, the master earthbender and sarcasm chief was back. She continued on her day much in the same manner, making jokes about Sokka's art and Aang's vegetarianess. And yet, in the night before she slipped into bed, and in the morning when she awoke, she began taking extra care to brush out her hair. As she felt the silky strands brushing against her face, she imagined their inky darkness contrasting with her milky pale skin. Katara had called it beautiful, and suddenly it wasn't another nuisance thing for her to dress up before going out. It was a small part of her identity that Katara managed to unlock.

* * *

 **Hey guys! I am new to Avatar fanfiction, but I am in no way new to the fandom! I am simply in love with the show and all of the characters. I got the idea for this short when I was re-watching Sozin's Comet for about the 40th time. In part I, Toph calls Aang "Blady" when their having their beach party. That got me thinking. How did Toph know he was bald? She couldn't feel something like that with her earthbending. So, this story grew from that quote. This scene would explain how Toph knew what Aang looked like, and alows for some nice bonding between Katara and Toph, and Toph and herself. My idea is that after Zuko joins the group in season 3, Toph will have another late-night session with Katara to talk about the looks of the latest team member. Of couse, Katara might not be as ready to talk about Zuko at the time. o_o If you guys would like me to write a second part to this story talking about Zuko, let me know in the reveiws! Also, tell me what you thought about my story and/or writing style! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

_Crick Crick Crick_

Sounds of mating crickets filled the air.

 _Ohohohohoooooh_

Wind whispered through the temples, whooshing through hallways and around shrines.

 _Splash Splish Splash_

Running water from the fountain added a feeling of zen to the courtyard.

The spiritual calm of this ancient sanctuary was lost on young Toph Beifong. She could not fathom the beauty of the heavens above, which shone with glimmering jewels and was guarded by the loving moon spirit, which the ancients had worshipped. She could not grasp the pull of celestial spirit, which called hundreds of nomads in the past to live simply and meditate.

To Toph, the entire ancient culture seemed like a bit like a joke.

 _Sounds like someone peeing_ , she thought to herself mischievously as she passed the tired fountain.

She was, however, grateful for the consideration of the old nomads for their use of sturdy building structures. She might not respect their pacifist ways, but at least they had not made their homes out of clouds or some other ridicules airbender nonsense. A blind earthbender could feel right at home in these caniverous structures. If only they did not have so many weird old spirit statues around. Their constant presence gave her the creeps, always there; watching her with eyes she couldn't see, judging her with old manners she couldn't understand. She might not know all the ins and outs of Aang's culture, but she knew enough to know it was weird.

Slipping her way along the hallway, she reached a corner and turned to the left. She found herself in a similar hallway, leading to more sleeping chambers. She quickly made her way down the path, with the sturdy confidence of a grounded earthbender.

When the gang had first arrived at the Western air temple, they had all spent the nights in the main courtyard, next to that ridiculously noisy fountain. It seemed more logical to stay together, where they could plan their future attacks up until the minute they crawled into their sleeping rolls, and begin planning again the moment they rolled out. It had felt just like old times, when they had camped together in the far reaches of the Earth Kingdom.

Their newest addition, however, did not add to the friendly feeling which made sleeping together in a group happily nostalgic. Rather then let him join them on the deck, they had promptly showed him to his separate room, and locked him away from their close community.

Toph was fine with him staying out of their business. He was here to train Twinkle Toes, and that was all. She didn't really see an issue, but ever since Aang had accepted Zuko as his teacher, Katara had been really ticked. She had moved her things into a separate bedroom on the opposite side of the main terrace, and had pretty much been giving the entire world the cold shoulder for the rest of the day.

After their main 'mom' figure had decided to move out, the rest of the kids had followed her example. The boys had found separate rooms to sleep in, and Appa and Mommo had settled in the hallway of the Forever Echo. Now, the terrace sat empty with only the never-ending fountain for company.

Katara's door was next to Sokka's, near the end of the hall. Sokka had noticed right away, like Toph, the tension that having Zuko around brought out in his sister. After her heated moving of items, he quickly selected the room beside hers so he could be sure his sister was safe.

Toph wondered how he planned to protect her from any incoming threat with the way he slept. Honestly, she could hear him snoring from out here in the hall!

Giving the grunting door a wide berth, Toph reached Katara's chamber, and knocked. No one answered, and the door was locked. It seemed as though Katara was asleep, but Toph knew better. She could see beyond the locked door, onto the rickety pallet bed of the ancient monks. There Katara lay, breathing much more rapidly then one that was awake. Silly girl, being quiet was not enough to fool Toph. Katara would need to learn how to be still and take deeper, more natural breaths if she wanted Toph to believe she was asleep.

"Open up Katara!" hissed Toph through the crack of the door. She wasn't too worried about waking anyone, as Twinkle Toes' room was on the other side of the hall, and everyone else was in the hallway where Zuko had set up shop. And of course, she figured it would take little less then an avalanche to awake the sleeping water tribe warrior behind the next door over.

Just as Toph was about to call again, she saw Katara start to rise from her bed. Pushing her bag aside in a frustrated manner, the waterbender made her way to the door, her footsteps getting more aggravated with each step. She ripped open the ancient door with far more force then necessary.

"What do you want, Toph?" snapped Katara in an angry voice. Toph didn't need her sensitive hearing to understand the frustration in Katara's words.

"I want to talk," said Toph simply, and even she was surprised to hear how quiet and serene her voice sounded. In the night hours she sounded—almost fragile. The night was always a hard time for Toph, with nothing to do but lay perfectly still and let her fears and worries which she usually pushed aside come washing over her.

Katara softened at the sight of her friend. Was Toph always so short? She seemed to build the young Beifong up more in her head. Toph made it easy to imagine her as someone much bigger.

"What about?"

"I want to talk about our newest addition to the team."

Katara froze for a moment. She tried to keep her features calm, even though she knew Toph couldn't see them. She somehow felt that if she let her true feelings show on her face, the blind girl would sense them. Toph had a way of feeling more then one would think.

"Here, come in Toph. We can talk."

Toph smiled at the water bender, but she hesitated. "Would you mind if we walked outside? I like the sounds of the night…"

Katara quickly agreed. "Of course, Toph."

Katara made the way out of her room, closing the door behind her. Toph felt her footsteps, and followed her through the hallways of the mysterious temple. They found their way to the edge of one of the patios, surrounded by the creepy statues of old judgmental air nomads.

Katara took a seat, and Toph sat beside her.

The two sat in silence for a moment. Well, for Katara, it was silence. For Toph, the night was alive with sounds so minuscule and unimportant that others would overlook them. For her, it was magical.

Finally, Toph instigated the conversation.

"I want you to tell me about him."

"About Zuko?"

"Of course, he's the newest one, isn't he?"

Katara leaned back on her hands. Toph could tell this was not a topic Katara was pleased to be discussing.

"Well, he's a self-absorbed jerk with anger management issues and a score to settle with his father."

"I know _that_ ," Toph rolled her eyes; a motion she had gathered from conversation was a gesture of exasperation.

"Well, what more is there to know then?"

"I want you to tell me what he _looks_ like. Give me the highlights of his features so I can use them for mocking purposes."

Toph hoped her tone sounded lighthearted and joking. Honestly, she just wanted to know. She did not want to feel like others had secrets from her, or that everyone else was in on some information that she was not.

Katara took a small breath. It was a light sigh, but Toph could still hear it. Finally, she answered.

"Very well. Umm…he's tall, I suppose you can feel that though. Dark hair, it's long and kind of falls into his face."

"Eww. That sounds annoying."

Katara laughed.

"Trust me, it's not as weird now as it used to be. He used to have a ponytail."

"Really?" Toph was shocked. This was definite taunting material if she had ever heard it.

"Oh yes. It looked awful, really. Then he cut it off, I guess when he was on the run from Azula. Now it just kind of grows all over the place without function. It seems like he doesn't care about upkeep as much now."

"Maybe. Maybe he just doesn't need it to look a certain way now that he's not part of the Fire Nation Royal family anymore."

Katara considered a moment. "I never thought about it like that, you could be right."

"Tell me more," demanded Toph.

"Well, he has brown eyes, and a pointed face. That's about it."

"What? There has to be more."

"Well, he does have a scar."

Toph nodded. She had heard Zuko talking about the scar he had gotten from his father before.

"Is it really as bad as he makes it sound?"

"It is pretty bad," admitted Katara. "It goes all the way from his forehead down around his eye and splashes onto his cheek. It still looks angry red, after all this time. I would have hated to see it when it was fresh."

"That must have been a major hit to his prince-looks."

"Not really," said Katara quickly, as though she hadn't really thought about her answer. She fell silent again right away, but Toph was not ready to let this comment pass without a bit of good-natured mockery.

"What is it, Katara? Does the suspicious waterbender think the mysterious firebender is handsome after all?"

"I never said that!" exclaimed Katara, laughing. Toph picked up on the slightly nervous tone in her laugh. "I'm just saying, with that scar….if it was on anyone else, you would have assumed they got it defending their homes against the fire nation's brutal attacks. I guess I'm just saying it makes him look a little…brave, is all."

"Well, if his story is to be believed, he was defending his morals and beliefs from his ruthless father. I guess that was kind of a brave thing to do."

Katara nodded, then, realizing Toph couldn't see her, said, "Yeah, I guess so."

A few more seconds of nature's nighttime liveliness.

Then Toph continued her taunting line, refusing to let the matter drop without getting a straight answer.

"So…is he cute?"

"What? Who?"

"Zuko!"

"How should I know?"

"Because you have eyes, Katara! You have a better chance of picking out a hot firebender from a crowd then I do."

Katara pushed Toph's shoulder playfully. Toph felt the movement coming long before Katara's hand made contact, but she did not duck out of the way. She didn't mind Katara touching her; it was good to have someone close enough to her that they would.

"I guess, if he wasn't such a major jerk, you could say he was just a little cute."

"Wow, cute and brave-looking. Aang had better watch out, he's got competition."

"No! Not at all. You're forgetting the jerk factor."

Toph smiled. "I guess, but people can change, you know."

Katara shook her head. "No one can change that much. I know we need him to train Aang, but I still don't trust him."

Toph sighed and leaned back on the ground. Katara laid down besides her. Toph knew she was looking up at stars, even though Toph couldn't see them. Toph imagined thousands of pinpricks of light in the vast darkness of space. That was how they had been described to her once, and she was willing to accept this description. She honestly did not know why such tiny lights had such an impact on people, but she supposed that so many much be a beautiful sight. This was one thing she would never be able to debate with people on, however, because she would never be able to relate to them.

She could, however, relate to Katara's feeling of wariness and mistrust.

"I have trouble trusting people," she admitted suddenly. "I didn't have a lot of friend growing up, so it's always been hard to gauge people's loyalty. I can tell when someone's flat-out lying, but I cannot tell what kind of person they are going to be down the road."

"I can tell you Zuko's not going be a great person down the road."

"Maybe he will, and maybe he won't. If I can't tell, then you certainty can't."

Katara sighed. "I guess not."

"I suppose we'll have to just wait and see what kind of person he's going to be now."

"I suppose we will."

The two girls fell into silence, each lost in their thoughts. They were both wondering about the loyalties of the mysterious firebender who had shown up that morning. Away from them, down a few halls and past a few more statues Toph would have called strange, the young firebender in question lay awake, wondering the very same things.

* * *

A/N- **Hey guys! I was thinking a bit over Spring Break about what to write, so I decided to make a second chapter for this story set after Zuko joins the team! Hope you all enjoyed it! Review if you did, and also if you didn't, and say what I could have done better! Hope everyone is having a great Easter Weekend!**


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